A/N : Hooray! A story dedicated to one of my absolute favorite characters of anything, really, Princess Peach. It involves Peach's friendships with every combatant in the Smash Bros. Series. I think it'll be a good way for me to ponder about a character's personality and what they experience/have experienced as a character. They're rather short, and I'll probably update sporadically (I already am), so I'll apologize in advance for that, if it does happen. I'll try to avoid doing that, obviously. But either way, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Peach Tree

Bloom

"Whew!" sighed Peach, wiping her forehead with the back of her wrist. Princess Peach had just finished planting a sapling in the Smash Mansion garden using nothing but a pot of dirt and a trowel. It was harder than she expected for fifteen minutes' worth of work.

Thank goodness I always wear gloves. Peach thought, surveying the dirt-stained ring on her gloves. I'd better clean my ring.

Peach walked back into the mansion. She said a cheery hello to anyone that she passed by, as well as attracting quite a few stares at her earth-covered dress in the hallways. Thankfully, Peach had managed to make it to her room without being questioned. Peach's room was on the second floor, and overlooked the courtyard, located adjacent to the garden. Opening up her wardrobe, she changed into a cleaner, pinker dress, along with new gloves, placing her ring on her nightstand. Sitting in front of her vanity, Peach took off her crown and started to brush her long blond hair, trying to get bits of dirt out of it.

As she stared blankly at her reflection, Peach thought to herself : It feels so good to do something other than fighting while living here. She frowned for a moment, placing the brush back on the table. It just... doesn't feel like me. Fighting, and all that. I mean, I can pack a punch if I wanted to, but... Oh, why did I agree to join again in the first place?

She stood up. Peach walked outside to her balcony, and leaned on the rail. Out in the garden, she could see a multitude of Smashers doing whatever their willy-nilly minds were thinking of. Peach had already memorized which locations each Smasher prefers the best in the courtyard. She watched Ness showing Lucas a yo-yo trick while standing on a park bench. Link and Zelda were not, she noticed, talking behind the fuchsias as they usually did, but rather sitting out in the open, enjoying a spot of tea with an out-of-place Ganondorf, who was scowling and confused. Toon Link was giving a small music performance to the Ice Climbers, Diddy, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff, whom were all listening intently but with glazed looks on their faces.

Overall, the courtyard was a lively place, but Peach still preferred the gardens over it. She could never get tired of looking at the trees and flowers, plus it gave her something to look forward to when Spring arrived. After a few more moments of observing the people in the courtyard, Peach started to feel bored. Wondering about what she should do, her eyes lit up when she noticed the clock in her room was nearing twelve.

"Well then, I guess I'll go do some cooking," Peach declared, talking to no one in particular. She turned away from the balcony. "And then I'll check up on the little sapling I just planted..."

"Food's on!" shouted Peach, having finished with making lunch. To make sure that everyone had heard, Peach took a wooden mallet on the kitchen table and whacked it against a large gong, its echo resounding throughout all of the mansion. Choruses of cheers and relieved groans of hunger rang between the halls.

"I'll be coming down in a minute!"

"Hooray!"

"Finally, I'm starving!"

The princess smiled as most of the seats in the cramped dining room were filled within a matter of minutes. Standing up, she proudly presented them a feast fit for a pack of Piranha Plants, snapping her fingers as lids popped open to reveal an extravagant amount of hot and cold dishes. Without needing encouragement, chaos unfolded as the Smashers heavily dove into the food.

After lunch was over, Peach washed the dishes, with a bit of help from Pikachu and Pichu. Needless to say, the dishes took a longer time washing than they usually did. Thanking the two Pokémon for their help when they were done, Peach trotted out of the kitchen and into the garden, searching for her newly-planted sapling.

I remember that I planted it somewhere near the daisies... Peach recalled, fluffing her hair to remove the static.

She suddenly smiled a great big smile when she found the sapling protruding from the ground near the back of the garden, right next to a small pond. She hastily ran over to it. Peach knew that the sapling wouldn't grow in a matter of a few hours, but she still wanted to check up on it just to make sure it looked like it's in a comfortable position, receiving sunlight while being saturated by the nearby pond. Peach's smile fell slightly when she noticed a lone person was standing right next to her sapling, gazing down at it.

A man in a space suit slowly looked up. The man was rather short, even though he was crouching he'd probably not gain much in height if he stood up. He had gloves on, as well as a large, round space helmet around his head, with a tipped antenna coming out from the top of it. His head only had a few tufts of hair on it, and his nose was round and bulbous, similar to a certain red-capped plumber's.

"O... Olimar...?" said a bewildered Peach.

The spaceman responded with the tiniest of nods. Suddenly, he bowed, the antenna drooping over the side of his helmet as he did so, and walked away. This left Peach feeling even more confused. Watching Olimar as he walked away, Peach wondered...

Peach was not scheduled for any battles for the next week or so. The encounter with Olimar was wiped clean from her mind. She spent her extra time cleaning up the Mansion, making sure every appliance was in tip-top shape, and mopped the floors until they were spotless. After she had finished with all of her cleaning duties, Peach flopped onto the bed in her rooms headfirst in a very unladylike manner. Taking in the flowery scent of her blankets for a few minutes, Peach then took off her crown and began to polish it using a stray handkerchief.

Peach sighed wearily. "I don't see why I polish my crown every day... Every time I finish a match, my crown ends up all bent and crooked. At least I don't have any matches this week. Hm... It was a good idea of mine to have the jewels be made of acrylic, but no one should need to know about that..."

Glancing out of her balcony window, Peach said to herself, "I think I'll go for a stroll in the garden. I haven't been there in a few days, plus it should be pretty empty right about now..."

Slipping into a fluffy pink cardigan, Peach dashed out of the room to look at the blooming flowers. Even though it was summer, many of the flowers were still blooming, pollen dust floating gently through the air. The persimmon tree, the goldenrods, and even the red roses; they were all still in bloom. Peach loved the way flowers bloomed. She always reveled during the moment a flower-bud opened up to reveal a pure, blooming blossom. Remembering about her sapling, Peach walked over to the pond and stopped behind a willow tree. On some odd impulse, she didn't want to step near her sapling; Peach opted to tilt a tree branch slightly to peek at it instead. Peach's heart skipped a beat when she spotted a person gazing down at her sapling. This scene felt so familiar to her...

Olimar? Why is he here? wondered Peach. The expression on the man's face was one of calm, passive contemplation. Now that I think about it, didn't he visit the garden a few days ago?

Does Olimar also like nature? I've never really spoken to him... Peach realized. I don't know him at all. Oh dear, I can't believe that I'm spying on him... Peach added guiltily, a frown on her face. Olimar did not seem to notice her presence as she peeked at him. He just kept on staring at the slowly growing sapling, crouching with his hands on his thighs.

Right then and there, Peach made a decision. She stepped to the side of the willow tree and was in plain sight. The absorbed spaceman's attention was finally captured. It was an awkward moment of silence in which Peach and Olimar stared at each other, neither of them daring to move. Peach's blond ponytail fluttered slightly in the wind.

"Ah... Hello, Olimar," Peach said, who had the dignity to blush. "I was just... taking a stroll." And indeed she was, but her hesitant tone of voice clashed with that statement.

Olimar stared blankly at her for a few seconds. Then, he bowed. As he turned to leave, Peach called after him, "Wait, Olimar!"

He walked another step or two before turning around. Peach continued on hurriedly, "Would... would you like to have a cup of tea with me?"

"So, Olimar, what brought you to the garden today?"

Peach and Olimar were sitting down at the same lawn-table that Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf had sat at a week ago in the courtyard. Both of them were enjoying a cup of hot, steaming tea, set with their own saucers. Peach had baked a few crumpets and scones as well, and laid them in the center of the table for them to take. They were all alone in the garden. The other Smashers were watching the match between Fox and King Dedede, or they simply had matters to do elsewhere. Peach poured a bit of tea into Olimar's teacup, looking at him expectantly.

The princess' eager smile faltered slightly when Olimar looked down at his feet, as if shy. Peach just realized that she had never heard Olimar utter a word; not even once. She had only heard him whistle, when he was calling his Pikmin back to his side during battles.

Does he know how to talk? I'm sure that he does... Peach thought with a worried expression.

Olimar seemed to sense her – as well as his – uneasiness, as he gently tapped the side of his helmet.

"Eh?" Peach was baffled.

Olimar repeated the action again, a little harder this time. His head shook slightly from the impact. He then made a whistling motion, then shrugged his shoulders.

Peach was never really any good at charades. She tried to grasp the point of what he was trying to say, though. "Um... You want to make a bird call?" she guessed.

Olimar shook his head. He made a writing gesture. Peach took out her drawstring purse and handed him a pen and writing pad. Olimar hastily scribbled a few words onto the pad and handed it back to her. In slanted, cursive handwriting, it read :

Thank you.

I cannot speak due to the fact that no sounds can pass through my glass helmet.

However, that is only by the sounds of my own voice.

I can hear everything going on outside crystal clear.

I wish I could speak to you, but writing seems to be the only way of conveying my thoughts to others.

The flow of incoming words startled Peach, who had thought Olimar was completely silent due to his somewhat introverted personality. Handing him back the pad, she replied, "Can't you take your helmet off, then?"

Olimar wrote a few more words down. He lifted the pad up. Peach read :

Oxygen gas is poisonous to beings of my kind.

That is why I cannot take off my helmet.

"Oh... That's definitely a good reason that you can't take off your helmet, then," Peach said with a chuckle. Olimar looked confused. Peach patted him on the back with a grin. "I thought you didn't take it off because you had vision problems, or perhaps you had very severe allergies."

Those remarks made Olimar feel even more disoriented. Peach waved a hand to brush away the impact of her words, seemingly oblivious to his confusion. Repeating her original question, she asked him, "So, what brought you here visiting the garden, instead of watching the match today, Olimar?"

Olimar wrote slowly this time, as if choosing his words carefully. His note read :

Seeing flowers and trees reminds me of my home...

It has been so long since I have returned to my planet, Hocotate.

One gets nostalgic at times...

I apologize if I seem to have acted strange to you by gazing at your peach sapling.

It is growing wonderfully, by the way.

I can see that you give it a lot of care.

Peach was touched. "Thank you, Olimar. I do pride myself in my gardening work! Especially my begonias," Peach said proudly. "Is there a lot of vegetation on your home planet?" she added as an afterthought.

He replied :

No.

My planet is, for the most part, barren and does not have much vegetation.

As for why seeing plants makes me feel at ease, despite rarely seeing any on my home planet, it is because –

The note stopped there, but Peach didn't need to read any further. She glanced up at Olimar, whose face was hidden behind the notepad. She said, "It reminds you of Pikmin, right? The Pikmin of yours have a leaf-like protrusion coming out from the top of their head, which eventually grows into a flower, am I correct?"

Olimar gave her a hesitant nod. Flipping to the next page, Olimar wrote :

It is not as if I view the Pikmin as plants.

They are my companions.

They've always followed me, tried their best for me, and listened.

All the while not asking for anything in return.

Without them, I –

The note ended abruptly again, but like before, Peach didn't have to read it to the end. She looked at Olimar, who had set the notepad down on the table. With a faint smile, she said, "Oh, there's no need. I understand completely."

Olimar gave her a look that asked, "Do you really?". Peach didn't quite catch the meaning behind his look. Peach sipped a bit of tea from her teacup. Helping herself to a scone, she said after she had swallowed a bite, "Would you like one? I baked them myself."

Right after she offered him, Peach immediately wanted to revoke her words. "Oh, I'm sorry... I forgot that you can't take your helmet off... And right after you told me why, too!" Peach looked ashamed with herself. She had just noticed now that she had also never seen Olimar at the dinner table, nor the lunch and breakfast tables when it was time to eat. She never wondered how Olimar could eat without taking off his helmet until now.

Olimar shook his head again, but this time, he had a smile on his face. He took a crumpet, much to Peach's surprise, and put it on top of his antenna. Suddenly, magically, the antenna absorbed the crumpet as it flowed down the wire and landed right on top of his head. Shirking his arm out of the armsaye, Olimar took the crumpet off the top of his head and bit into it, a look of delight on his face. Peach's ashamed expression changed into one of amusement when Olimar silently explained to her how he eats.

Peach asked him, "Is it good?"

Olimar gave her an affirmative nod. When Peach's mouth opened, Olimar lifted up a finger. Olimar took his teacup off of its saucer, and like before, poured a small bit of its contents into the antenna. Craning his head back, the tea steadily dripped from the top of his helmet right into his mouth. A strange way of eating, Peach thought, but at least it prevented any oxygen from entering his system.

Olimar is rather an entertaining person. Peach thought. I wonder why he never decided to converse with the others, even without being able to talk, he could have at least tried to communicate with the rest of the Smashers...

Peach studied Olimar. His small, beady eyes were capable of showing more emotion than people might think. His choice of words showed that he was an educated, refined individual. She noticed that Olimar didn't have any Pikmin with him today. Now that she thought about it, he didn't have any a week ago when she first caught him near her sapling. How odd.

Wow, I'm slow. I should have noticed he didn't have any Pikmin with him sooner. She wondered why Olimar didn't have any Pikmin. He was usually inseparable from them, unless he had to toss them in the middle of a fight. In the few times when I've seen him around when he's not fighting, he didn't have any Pikmin with him either.

Peach pondered on this for a minute, taking a sip from her own teacup. Olimar was enjoying another crumpet.

Maybe it's for the better. Peach thought while refilling Olimar's cup with tea. He must feel devastated to see his friends disappear soon after he plucks them... But being alone the remainder of the time must also be quite saddening...

A loud cheer was suddenly heard from the next wall over.

"The match must be almost over," Peach thought aloud.

Is that the reason why Olimar is hesitant to open up? Because he might be afraid that because we're his friends, we'll be used by him? Friends are willing to sacrifice for you, don't they? Peach wondered. Maybe I'm over-thinking things.

I guess I don't understand his situation completely after all. But... Peach took a glance at Olimar, who was watching a pair of starlings tweeting in the branches of an olive tree. There must be some way to do so, to get him to open up. Hm... how about...?

"Say, Olimar," said Peach, after a moment's consideration. Olimar turned to look at her. "How about thinking of helping me create a flower garden?"

Olimar raised one of his eyebrows. Peach got up from her seat. Looking back at him, Peach continued, "I mean, I know we have a lot of flower gardens already here in the Garden. But we could always use one more."

She grabbed Olimar's hand, and tugged him out of his seat. Olimar was startled. He mouthed something as he let himself be dragged away by the princess. Peach didn't have to be a master at charades to be able to tell what he was trying to say.

Spinning around once on her foot as well as Olimar in the air, Peach told him with a smile, "Why are we creating one? Why, to see the flowers open up and bloom in spring, of course!"

A/N : There's the first chapter! Peach gets to learn a little more about Olimar, who for the most part is practically silent and keeps to himself mostly, in my opinion. While it is true that Olimar makes daily monologues on his adventures, no one has actually heard him talk, and well, I guess I stretched it a bit. But your voice really can't be understood if you're wearing a fish bo – I mean, a helmet, as your voice gets slurred.

Originally I had wanted to stage the scenes where Olimar does not talk at all, even by writing... I guess I'll try one of those completely dialogue-free chapters later on, then.

Yeah, I ended this rather abruptly... But it's a start. Sort of. I'll try to incorporate a bit more liveliness into the next few chapters, and try to add a dash of humor on too. I have a dreadful taste of humor.

Hope you enjoyed, and I hope I can update!

Oh, and here's a hint on the character focused on the next chapter : An alternate costume